Sweet/GooD shankarpal

GooD (pronounced go-o-D) shankarpal must be another signature sweet made for Diwali in many Marathi/Konkani homes. Last year I had tried these for the first time. But then, I forgot to take pictures, so I could not post it here. I don’t make these dishes very often – once a year is also a very good number according to me, not because I don’t like them, infact I love these too much. But since they take a little bit of patience and time, I avoid even thinking about them.

Aayi makes these thinner than what I made this time, mine have become more like cookies – I just wanted to hurry up things, so I have cut them into thick pieces. Thick or thin, they just taste superb. I remember, while growing up, I used to help her cutting these. She had loads of patience, she would make these goodies often. My brother and I loved to eat them when they were still hot. Now that we both are away from home, she has stopped making these.

Here is how aayi’s shankarpal looks like. This photo was taken by my brother when aayi made these for him.

I am posting all these well in advance to Diwali so that those who want to follow these, have enough time to try these. I am sending this to Vee’s Diwali special JFI.

Ingredients:
1 cup(approx) sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup vanaspathi ghee(dalda) – hydrogenated vegetable oil or normal ghee + oil/ghee/dalda for deep frying
4 cups(approx) maida or all purpose flour
1/2 tea spn salt

The amount of sugar given above makes these very mildly sweet. So increase it if you want to make them more sweet. I didn’t measure flour properly, so if needed, add more/less flour to make the dough. Aayi always uses dalda, which makes these very light and tasty, since I read somewhere about ghee, I mentioned that too.

Method:
Heat sugar with 3/4 cup ghee/dalda and water till the sugar and ghee/dalda melts. Take off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
Now add salt, flour and knead it into a tight dough. Keep it aside for 30mins.

Heat dalda/ghee for deep frying (I used 1/2 dalda + 1/2 oil).
Knead the dough well. Take a big ball and roll it into a round of desired thickness (if required, dust lightly with dry flour).
Dip the edge of a knife in dry loose flour(this avoids sticking) and cut into square pieces.

Deep fry the pieces in oil till they are dark brown. Take out on a paper towel.
Allow them to cool to room temperature and then store in air tight container.

Preparation time : 2hrs

PS: This measurement makes fairly large batch of shankarpals. So if it is your first time, start with half the quantity mentioned above.

32 thoughts on “Sweet/GooD shankarpal”

  1. This is something unique. Very nice. but Believe me, you can’t substitute ghee for the dalda here. It won’t give you the same taste. Dalda gives the real taste for this.Tks for sharing the recipe. Viji

    Shilpa: I agree with you Viji. My mom always used dalda.

  2. “Preethiya Shilpa avrige Deepavaliya Shubhashayagalu”
    Am going to miss all the fire crackers and all the sweets back home. 🙂
    Have loads of fun Shilpa,
    Best wishes 🙂

  3. It’s like great puffy sweet crackers, aren’t they? I used to make it a lot in India. Never made these once I left India. Looks great Shilpa, thanks for memories!:))

  4. Never tried making god (sweet version) My mom always made the spicy and MIL the sweet, got to eat both, so never made any attempt. I have masurpak on priority one and then chiroti (as you know my son loves it) and now tukdi. Thanks for the post in advance.

  5. Hey Shilpa I made Mysore pak yesterday it came out well…didnt get lot of pores but my hubby liked it a lot…next will make Shankarpala too….:)

  6. which flour is suit for this sweet.i had only a rice flour.is it possible to prepare this sweet? pls say

    Shilpa: Deepa, you need to use either maida or all purpose flour. It is not prepared with rice flour.

  7. This is a very common snack made during Diwali at our place….tastes great! I think Shilpa, dalda is a better option for this recipe than ghee, as we always use dalda….results are great too. Pics are great too!Good work!

  8. first it was mysore pak and now these!!! shilpa my dear, i want them all. i will be the happiest person on this planter only if someone could make these for me. 😉

    Shilpa: Haha…why don’t you come to Kansas Sia? I will be happy to make them for you. I just love making them, I am not very good at eating :(.

  9. Brings back fond memories; My mom along with my aunts would churn out dabbas full of these sankarpala, as well as other sweets for different ‘parab’.

    These are yumm.
    you should consider moving to the Boston Area. Surely there are jobs galore here
    … and I would get to provide a critical taste test for these sankarpale!

    Happy Deepavali to you and yours!
    🙂

  10. Not only is the dish wonderful, your post also took me back to my childhood days in India :(( Especially the cutter part. I love to love playing with it muc to the annoyance of my aunts and mom 🙂

  11. Hi Shilpa,
    I tried this recipe and came out very well.
    My daughter and husband both liked it a lot.
    Thanks for sharing such a nice and easy to make recipe..
    Regards,
    Ruchi

  12. Hi Shilpa,
    HAPPY DIWALI.
    I made Shankarapal for the first time recently(i didn’t see ur recipe).This recipe was given by a friend.
    I took 1 cup ghee,1 cup sugar and 1 cup water.I heated it till the ghee and sugar are melted.Then to that i had added nearly 1 kg of maida(i can be less also) and made a tight ball of dough.My friend had adviced me that the dough should be tight and u need to keep on adding maida till the dough is tight.(this is for the crispness of Shankarpals).
    Later, i had kept the dough in a wet cloth.The dough was kept aside for 4 to 5 hrs and then i made Shankarpals.
    In ur recipe u had mentioned 30 minutes.Does it make any difference?Pls respond

    Shilpa: Usually the dough is kept aside so that all the ingredients come together well and also the maida soaks other ingredients. If you keep it longer, it should not be a problem. But usually, when you let the dough sit for a very long time and then deep fry, it soaks more oil (it is same for puris and other deep fried items also).

  13. Hi Shilpa,
    I just finished making shankarpal.and straight away thought you deserve a comment.I made this first time in life,came out very well,but very time consuming.Thank u so much for this wonderful site,very much appreciating ur work.M a keralite,so many recipes not even heard in life,huby just mention the name of it and u r always my helper,thus we most time have delicious meals

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